Assisting News Editor and JoyNews journalist, Erastus Asare Donkor, has been shortlisted for an international recognition by the Covering Climate Now Journalism Award.

His documentary dubbed “Destruction For Gold” was amongst stories globally that generated public discourse on the threats to the environment and a call for immediate climate action.

The three-part investigative piece by the team, including videographer, Kofi Asare shed light on the illicit activities of small-scale miners in Ghana’s forest reserves, discovering how water bodies have been polluted with appreciable amounts of heavy metals and the decimation of forest reserves.

A panel of distinguished judges selected 76 finalists from nearly 1,100 entries, representing news outlets from six continents.

One of the judges indicated that “This story is at the core of what investigative journalism — and journalists — are all about. Donkor followed the story and generated a public forum for change.”

This year’s finalists include journalists from such major outlets as CBS Sunday Morning, the Los Angeles Times, Deutsche Welle, Reuters, BBC World News, the Australian Broadcasting Service, and Aktuellt, as well as smaller media enterprises including Africa Uncensored, StateImpact Pennsylvania, InfoNile, Laist, and Grist.

Editor and Publisher of Columbia Journalism Review, Kyle Pope, who doubles as Chair of the CCNow Journalism Awards Judging Committee, said the works of the finalists are worth emulating to chart a path for other journalists globally.

“These finalists are blazing a path that journalists everywhere can learn from and emulate. Rigorous reporting tells the public and policymakers how climate change is upending our world, who’s responsible, and what can be done about it,” he said.

The third edition of the award received an increase in entries from across the globe with exceptional climate journalism.

Executive Director of CCNow and the environment correspondent for CCNow’s co-founder - The Nation, Mark Hertsgaard was positive the entries received under the year of review smacked of Climate Change awareness.

“We received almost 1,100 entries this year, up from 600 in 2021. The number and diversity of entries for the 2023 awards demonstrate that more and more of our colleagues are stepping up to the climate story,” he said.

The stories received for climate journalism from media of all kinds and sizes all over the world, included powerful reportage from the frontlines of the crisis; investigative reports holding power to account; in-depth examinations of climate change’s impacts on the most vulnerable; and interrogations of solutions that could still avert the worst.